


Wake Turbulence

by antigrav_vector



Series: Supersonic [2]
Category: Captain America (MCU), Iron Man (MCU), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Aunt Peggy Carter, BAMF Peggy Carter, Bucky Barnes & Peggy Carter Friendship, Crack Treated Seriously, Fix-It, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark Friendship, James "Rhodey" Rhodes is a Good Bro, Lots of Tony Feels, M/M, Memory Issues, Peggy Carter Lives, Protective James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Protective Virginia "Pepper" Potts, Recovering winter soldier, The Author Regrets Nothing, Time Travel Fix-It, Tony POV, Virginia "Pepper" Potts & Tony Stark Friendship, post-AoU, pre-CA:CW
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-09
Updated: 2019-03-09
Packaged: 2019-11-14 13:37:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18053513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/antigrav_vector/pseuds/antigrav_vector
Summary: Tony and Bucky go out on a date, make the tabloids, and wind up in bed together, though all that they do is sleep. Peggy approves. So does FRIDAY. Three weeks later, the Winter Soldier makes another appearance, and no one reacts very well to it. Then Pepper and Rhodey arrive, and Tony -- despite knowing that everything is about to go completely off the rails before it gets better -- finds that comforting and a relief.





	1. Date Night

**Author's Note:**

> Posted with thanks to my beta reader [dapperanachronism](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dapperanachronism).
> 
>  **Wake turbulence:** Wingtip vortices generated behind a wing producing lift. Behind a large heavy aircraft they can be powerful enough to roll or even break up a smaller aircraft.
> 
> Timeline notes:  
> This fic picks up directly after the previous one.  
> Ch 1 May 21 2016  
> Ch 2 June 13 2016  
> Ch 3 June 14 2016

Tony was used to asking his AIs for things, and having those things appear, as though by magic. When he asked for clothes, usually they appeared the same day. His tailors knew him and were pretty much always willing to do a rush job for him, given the prices he paid them.

Very obviously Bucky wasn't.

When the charcoal grey suit appeared, in its garment bag, complete with tie, pocket square, cream colored button down shirt, socks, and a pair of shoes to match, he'd been caught entirely off guard.

He and Peggy and Tony had been lounging in the common floor lounge, about an hour and a half after he'd taken Tony aside for a very pleasant make-out session. To be fair, though, they _had_ also talked a bit. About who they were, likes, histories, and so on. They had avoided the topic of expectations, for the time being, without needing to say a word to one another about it -- there'd be plenty of time to work that part out once they knew Bucky would be sticking around on a more permanent basis. Neither of them wanted to get too comfortable if Bucky was only going to vanish back into the past.

Peggy pre-empted the pair of them and stood to step over to the delivery guy holding the suit. "Thank you," she told him. "Tony, come here and pay the man."

"Already taken care of, ma'am," the guy responded, and vanished again.

"It is," Tony agreed easily. "Automatically debited to my account, and the footman gets a tip."

Peggy accepted that with a nod and turned to shove the suit at Bucky. "Go try it on, Barnes."

Bucky took it automatically, then eyed it for a moment, uncertain. "Guess I might as well. How the hell'd you..."

He trailed off, and Tony suspected Bucky wasn't sure how to finish the question. "How did I get that delivered so fast?" He asked, knowing his amusement was audible. "My tailors are used to getting the occasional rush job from me because of things like unexpected press conferences. FRIDAY forwarded your measurements."

Bucky's eyes narrowed. "I'm not sure how to feel about your computer knowing my waist size," he said, "but that's one of the coolest things I've seen her do so far."

"Sergeant," FRIDAY chimed in, "given that such information is deemed confidential by the Boss, it's under lock and key."

Peggy gave Tony a Look, and raised an eyebrow at him.

"What?" He asked mildly. "Do you have any idea what a field day the internet would have with that kind of thing?"

That made Bucky wince. It hadn't taken him long to work out just how judgmental people could be when they were anonymous. "Okay, that's probably smart."

"Go get changed," Tony told him. "FRIDAY picked out the colors, but I want to see it live."

Muttering something under his breath that Tony couldn't make out, Bucky gave in and went.

Peggy moved back over to the sofa and sat down to join Tony. "Something tells me this will be worth seeing," she commented.

Tony smirked at her. "Going by the way he fills out that t-shirt, it should be. Oh, FRI?"

"Yes, Boss?" his AI responded gamely.

"Put in an overnight order for a couple of sets of casual clothes, too," Tony requested. "For both our guests. They may want them tomorrow, if they're still here."

"That's not necessary," Peggy tried to protest.

"Sure it is," Tony disagreed, cutting that argument off at the knees. "If you end up getting pulled home in the night, I can cancel the order easily. Or FRIDAY can, if I forget. And if you don't, something more comfortable to wear than that skirt suit of yours is definitely in order."

Her expression went mulish for a second, before she sighed and conceded the point. "I suppose I ought to have it cleaned," she acceded.

He'd have been gracious in his victory, but Tony's attention was derailed by Bucky's reappearance, and whatever he'd planned to say got obliterated. He stared, speechless, for a moment, and Bucky smirked at him.

"Do I pass muster, Agent Carter?" Bucky asked her, sounding very pleased with himself.

Peggy rolled her eyes at him. "I suppose you'll do. Get out of here and stop subjecting me to your mutual attraction."

"With pleasure," Bucky replied, and sauntered over to Tony and offered him a hand up off the sofa. "Shall we?"

"Sure," Tony agreed, not really thinking about the words coming out of his mouth, "let's go have some fun. We'll take the Audi."

"And go where?" Bucky asked him, sounding a trifle wary.

"FRI?" Tony asked, "what've we got to pick from?"

"If ya want a more respectable option, there are several art galleries hosting openings for new up and coming artists tonight. The Met opened a new exhibition last night, and there is the usual assortment of musicals, plays, and the opera."

"Opera?" Bucky made a face at the idea.

Tony found his equilibrium again long enough to laugh. "Not so much your scene, I take it."

"Nah. I'd rather go dancin'," Bucky shot back, "assumin' that's allowed now."

"There are plenty of gay clubs in New York," Tony told him, "but I doubt that's quite what you had in mind, and while I've never been all that deep in the closet, I don't feel like dealing with the possible fallout in the press."

Peggy interjected, "So go see a film or something. Surely that's a possibility."

"If I wanted to do that, I'd stay in my Tower," Tony dismissed that idea. "The set up is better quality. No. And art openings are boring. Usually the best thing there is the open bar."

That statement got him an amused huff from both his guests.

"In that case, Boss," FRIDAY put in, "you might consider dinner at Collini's."

"What's Collini's?" Bucky asked warily.

"One of the best Italian places in the city," Tony answered. "And it's on my tab, since you don't have an account here, yet. Make the reservations FRI."

"And after dinner?" Bucky asked him. "I thought you wanted to paint the town red."

Tony smirked, enjoying himself as an idea hit him. "That's for me to know and you to find out."

"Good, that's settled," Peggy went back to trying to shove them out the door. "Go have your night out."

That time, Tony let her. He turned and headed for the elevator, trusting that Bucky would follow him. "Come on, Buckaroo. Before we wear out our welcome, here."

"Guess we'd better not," Bucky conceded. "I got no desire to get Carter pissed at me. That's usually a terrible plan."

The elevator doors opened as Bucky stopped next to him, and they stepped through, side by side. "Don't remind me," Tony told him, watching the doors slide shut again.

The statement got him a curious glance. "You make it sound like ya know Carter."

Oh. He hadn't mentioned that to Bucky yet, had he. Tony shrugged. "Not your Agent Carter, but yes. She was my godmother. Well, still is, I guess."

Bucky's expression went a bit rueful. "Huh. Must be weird."

"Sometimes," Tony said, quietly. "Sometimes it's a relief."

The doors opened again with a ping, saving him from having to elaborate. Tony took every inch of advantage of that. He didn't want to think about the way his Aunt Peggy was fading away before his eyes. Or the contrast with her younger self.

Leading the way through to his garage without another word, Tony snatched up the correct set of keys and slid into the driver's seat.

Bucky lingered for a couple of seconds, very obviously eyeing the other cars parked neatly in a row. "Guess having money has its perks," he noted as he settled himself in the passenger seat, awkwardly trying to make sure his new suit didn't wrinkle and failing.

"Yeah, I hate to shatter that little delusion, but it's not enough to make up for the bullshit," Tony shot back and started the engine, pausing for a moment to listen to the low rumbling growl and grinning. He pulled the car out of its spot and over to the ramp that would put them on street level. "On the other hand, knowing how to tune just about anything mechanical has its perks."

"Oh?" Bucky considered that. "This ain't completely street legal, is it."

Tony didn't answer; Bucky would draw the correct conclusions after dinner, no doubt.

Bucky was mostly silent, as they drove through the streets, staring up at the highrises with something like awe in his eyes. When they alit, some fifteen minutes later, he finally broke his silence. "You weren't kidding about the glitz."

"You handled the Tower just fine," Tony pointed out, as he swept into the restaurant with Bucky at his heels. "You'll adjust."

"Don't have much choice, 'f I'm gonna stay here," Bucky retorted.

The maitre'd led them to a table in the back of the restaurant, which was mostly tucked away from view, but Tony knew better than to think no one would manage to score photos of them.

Dinner itself passed in a haze of idle smalltalk about things like Tony's interests and goals, both of which he'd given more than enough interviews on to ramble about in his sleep without giving away the farm. That was a safe enough topic for a public arena, made it seem like Bucky might be a reporter rather than a date, and was still new enough to Bucky to interest him even though he could tell it had all been santised.

After they swanned back out of the restaurant, fed until they could take no more in true Italian style, Tony climbed back behind the wheel of the car and started wending his way out of the city. There were no convenient places to open up the throttle within the city limits, so they'd have to drive a little ways. But once you got a few miles away from the City the Palisades Parkway was reasonably open after rush hour was over and a little less heavily patrolled than the Taconic.

Bucky just let him drive for a while, content to soak in whatever he saw.

As they crossed the River, though, he started getting a bit more restless. "Let me guess," he commented idly, "we ain't going to go gaze at the skyline."

"If you want to do that," Tony said without looking over, "I'll take you up in the suit and you can admire it from the air."

"... suit?" Bucky asked, a bit tentatively. "What kinda suit?"

"Right. You haven't been here long enough to see my alter ego and it didn't come up in the tech presentation FRIDAY put together. I have a suit of armour that flies and shoots missiles," Tony told him.

"Horseshit. Pull the other one."

Laughing delightedly, Tony offered, "I'll show you once we get back to the Tower. I thought Steve got you up to date."

"He did," Bucky asserted. "I didn't believe him then, and I don't believe you now."

Traffic had thinned out considerably already and Tony decided it was good enough. He flew as supersonic speeds in the armour all the time. Weaving through a few cars at highway speeds would be child's play. "Alright, have it your way. For now, I've got a different toy to play with, and you're along for the ride."

This would have been better on the West Coast, where he had access to several more or less deserted highways, but he'd make do. Hitting the gas and enjoying the feeling of the kick to his lower back as the car accelerated, and Bucky whooped, egging him on and glancing at the spedometer every so often as they flitted back and forth between the lanes of the highway to avoid slower traffic.

He didn't dare maintain those speeds for long, though. Pepper had threatened to take his keys away after his last speeding ticket, despite all his protestations that he could afford the fine and the insurance about a million times over.

Bucky made a disappointed sound when Tony slowed the car again, and turned them back toward the City.

"I know," Tony agreed. "But I'm not allowed to get any more fines. Pepper said so."

"Pepper's... your CEO, right? Why does she get to make that decision?"

"She used to be my girlfriend, and before that, my assistant," Tony replied. "You'll meet her at some point, if you stick around. Probably sooner rather than later."

Bucky didn't answer for a moment. "What's she like?"

How did he even begin to answer that? Tony kept his attention on the road for a good thirty seconds, letting the silence play out.

"Efficient," he said eventually, though that wasn't nearly description enough. "Stubborn and patient enough to put up with me."

"Keeps you in line," Bucky guessed, an amused smirk tugging at his lips. "She's your Peggy."

"Not exactly, but close enough."

It took them a bit more time to get back to the Tower than it had to get to wherever they'd turned around, but that bothered neither of them.

The rest of the drive faded into a bit of a blur, what with how quiet and uneventful it was. Almost before he knew it, Tony was pulling back into his garage and Bucky was giving him a significant look.

Tony was fairly sure he knew why.

He backed the Audi into its spot and smirked. "Come on. I have something to show you."

"I still don't believe you," Bucky warned him, opening the door and stepping out of the car, "but why not, I'll call your bluff."

"You're lucky it's summer, or the air'd be damn cold on the helipad," Tony taunted him. "FRI, honey, prep the suit?"

She answered gamely enough, though Tony suspected she hadn't expected the request. "You'll be wantin' it upstairs, right, Boss?"

"I'm taking the Sergeant to the Helipad, and we're going flying," he told her as he stepped back into the elevator with Bucky still on his heels.

He could tell Bucky thought FRIDAY was just playing along, but Bucky said nothing as the floor counter ticked over, so Tony didn't either. When the doors opened again on the foyer adjacent to the helipad, Tony stepped out and turned to grab his undersuit out of the locker he'd had installed there. It was small and discreet and had just enough space for him to stash his clothing inside.

Bucky watched him curiously for the first few moments, then avidly, once he realised Tony was going to strip all the way down to his skin. "What is that thing?" He asked.

"Repurposed wetsuit. I could put the armour on over my clothes but they'd get ruined. This is easy to replace when it wears out and keeps the pinching to a minimum," Tony said with a smirk as he dropped his pants. "There are a number of joints inside the armour, and there are certain things you don't want getting caught between them."

Bucky winced, and very obviously tried not to imagine that. "Still don't believe you that this armour exists, but that's definitely true."

Pulling the undersuit on with movements made quick by frequent repetition, Tony stepped casually over to the suit gantry, which sprang to life as he approached. Bucky made a startled sound, as the armour started appearing, seemingly out of nowhere and Tony walked out onto the helipad.

"Now do you believe me?" Tony asked him with relish.

"Fuckin' Christ in Heaven," Bucky muttered. "That... is really somethin'. It really flies?"

"Sure does. Come on, let me show you the best view in town," Tony cajoled him.

"You're lucky I ain't afraid of heights," Bucky said and swallowed hard. "Fallin' though..."

"Noted. I try to avoid that myself." Tony held out an armoured hand and paused. "You'll need to stand on my boot and hold on tight, and tell me if you get tired. I need my hands to steer. "

"You sure about this?" Bucky hesitated.

"Sure enough to offer. I might take risks with my own skin in battle, but for a pleasure jaunt?" Tony shook his head. "If I were on my own, probably also then. But not with a passenger. The G forces alone would make that unsafe."

"Alright," Bucky accepted, visibly swallowing back his nerves. "But we're staying near the Tower, right?"

"That's easy to do," he agreed, and watched Bucky close his eyes long enough to take a deep breath in a bid to calm himself down, then offered, "I can go up myself, first, if you want to see what it looks like."

"Nah, I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

Carefully, Bucky crossed the open space between them and tried to find a secure way to position his feet. It was made a little more difficult by the lack of traction offered by his dress shoes, but after a few seconds' fumbling, he worked it out. Tony guided Bucky's arms up to go around his neck, where they'd foul fewer of his control surfaces than if they were around his waist, and then sent them rising ever so slowly into the air.

Bucky never even noticed until they were nearly a meter up, and then his grip on the armour tightened, but he never cried uncle so Tony carefully kept them climbing slowly. The twinkling lights of the city spread out below them, and Bucky drew a sharp breath when the sight registered properly.

Tony took the opportunity to turn them slowly in place. "Beautiful, isn't it."

"Nothin' like it in the world," Bucky answered after a couple of seconds, voice a bit shaky. 

"Up for a quick flight to the Rockefeller Center? It's only two blocks from here, you know."

"Maybe another time," Bucky responded, evading the question.

Letting them drift back down toward the helipad, Tony let that pass without pushing. He knew how difficult it could be to deal with that kind of irrational fear but keep functioning.

Once Bucky had his feet back on the metaphorical ground, he wavered, his knees a little wobbly, and Tony steadied him with a hand. "Okay?"

"'M fine. Just... I just need a minute."

"Well, once you find your land legs again we'll need to get you settled in for the night," Tony changed the subject. "You still want to bunk with me?"

Back on firmer conversational ground, Bucky raised an eyebrow at him and fired back in kind. "Do you want me to?"

"I thought you were all in favor, pending the results of our night out," Tony pushed him a little more. "Changed your mind already?"

"Not hardly, sugar. Not hardly. Take that tin plating back off and show me that bunk of yours."

Tin plating indeed! Tony scowled at him, but started the armour gantry removing the suit. When it finished a few seconds later, he collected his clothing out of the locker and simply started for the biometrically locked stairs that connected the helipad foyer and his own.

"That 'tin plating' is worth over a billion dollars, you know," he commented idly as he went, sure that figure would make Bucky's eyes go wide, and making a note to grab a still for himself off FRIDAY's cameras later. "You're definitely not a cheap date."

"I... what?" Bucky managed, stunned, then hurried to catch him up.

"Most of that is calculated man hours, granted, and not material costs," Tony carried on, "but even so, gold-titanium alloy isn't cheap."

"You've made your point," Bucky grumbled, "you can stop now."

"Not quite. My suite is worth almost as much, is my point. But it's meant to be used, though I often don't, myself."

"What the hell did I talk myself into this time," Bucky asked himself as the foyer of his penthouse came into view, its minimalistic decor apparently making a hell of a first impression.

Tony shrugged. "Shacking up with a Stark," he replied. "That name comes with certain expectations."

Bucky looked around the foyer again, his eyes lingering on the various art pieces and sleek furniture. "Jesus. You know what, all I want at this point is a place to bed down."

"Bedroom's this way. Feel free to take advantage of the shower first, if you want. And I forgot to ask, but what do you prefer to sleep in?"

"You are _not_ ordering me more clothes, Tony," Bucky informed him.

"You got to wear the only thing I've ordered you so far. There's plenty of sleepwear stocked in the Tower for guests, and FRIDAY's already had a set brought up here, if I know my girl. But that's been a fixture for years now. Pepper's idea. Very practical. You'd be amazed how often luggage goes missing, even in business class." 

Tony could see the exact moment Bucky gave in. "You're somthin' else," he said, shaking his head, "and Steve musta been blind with grief not to see it, himself. Fine, where are my new pyjamas, then?"

"In the master bedroom, Sergeant," FRIDAY answered him cheerfully.

"Of fucking course," Bucky muttered.

Odds were good he was still off balance, Tony decided. This man was nothing like the confident Bucky that had dragged him off into a quiet corner to kiss and touch him. The short flight in the suit had been a shock to his system, and the sight of the penthouse had definitely been another.

"Come make your choice, then," he suggested as he turned and made his way into his bedroom, where, sure enough, a selection of plastic-wrapped options lay neatly arranged near the head of the bed. "Then go shower off."

"But--"

Tony gave him an arch look. "What? Did you want to share the shower?"

"Told'ya before, Tony. Not on the first date," Bucky replied, but that got him moving again. "I ain't gonna need a manual to use your shower, am I?"

"FRIDAY can control it, if you'd rather just ask her for what you want," Tony said, gleefully watching the hint of a blush start to rise at Bucky's collar. "Otherwise, the setup is pretty standard. Pair of knobs. Hot and cold water. You know the drill. Help yourself to soap and shampoo, if you want."

Without another word, Bucky grabbed for the offered sleepwear and disappeared into the master bath. Tony forced himself to peel off the undersuit and exchange it for a tshirt and boxers, then settled in under his covers while he waited for Bucky to reappear. Letting his eyes fall shut, Tony amused himself by imagining the scene.

Those broad shoulders and that trim waist. Hot damn, but Bucky was delicious. And well-muscled. They'd bunch and slide distractingly as he moved, and that was just bound to be sexy as hell. He'd gotten a bit of a preview earlier, with the way Bucky had appeared, out of uniform. The legs hidden under that suit were powerful, and Tony spent a few seconds imagining what they'd feel like wrapped around him.

He never realised it when he fell asleep.

He definitely noticed it when he woke up, far too warm for comfort, in an unaccustomed tangle of limbs.

Bucky was wrapped around him, arms around Tony's waist, and legs tangled in his. And he was wearing nothing but a pair of boxers.

Tony had to bite back a very turned on growl.

Hopefully Bucky wasn't going to insist that they wait a month before he let Tony seduce him properly. That might end in tears for everyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those interested, Bucky's suit is based on the one in [this photo](https://pmchollywoodlife.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/sebastian-stan-8.jpg?w=800&zoom=2). Hot damn.


	2. Tabloid Terrorist

Things fell into a holding pattern after that. Bucky was back to his charming self the moment his eyes opened on that first morning he woke with Tony, and he proceeded to do his damnedest to entice Tony right back into bed after they had breakfast. Peggy had laughed at them and Pepper had called him to read him the riot act about going out on a date with a guy without warning her.

Life went on more or less as normal after that, though. Tony went back to spending most of his time in his workshop. He did what he could to figure out that time machine, though he made no further progress, and designed a few new armours.

Bucky alternated between spending time with him, with Peggy, and calling Steve via FRIDAY to harass him about what progress he was making.

With each day that passed without their disappearance, all three of them slowly got a little more used to the idea that Bucky and Peggy might be here to stay.

And then, with a suddenness that hit him like a tank shell to the face, the comfortable routine they'd established got shattered.

"Boss, you might want to go up to the common floor," FRIDAY suggested, closing his design interface and opening a video feed on a different holotable.

Tony swore vehemently. "Jesus fuck! He's _here_?"

Bucky, lounging on the sofa, rolled to his feet and hurried over. "Who's here?"

Tony, faced with a goddamn impossibility for the second time in less than a month, groaned. "That, Bucky, is the Winter Soldier, HYDRA's premier assassin. He's a ghost story, or was until last May when he and Steve slugged it out in DC."

"Let's see what he wants, then," Bucky replied. "If he's as good as you claim and he was here to kill anyone in the tower, he wouldn't have shown his face. Much less done the equivalent of inviting us in for coffee."

Tony ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "Steve's gonna be pissed that I didn't tell him about this," he muttered, then turned and headed for the workshop door. "Fuck my life."

Bucky made an amused sound and followed him. "FRIDAY would call for help if she thought it was needed."

"Of course I would, Sarge," she replied with a carefree tone that Tony thought wasn't strictly appropriate in this situation.

The elevator opened for them as they approached, and whisked them up to the common floor. When the doors pinged open, the Soldier was standing in the center of the room, balanced on the balls of his feet. Poised.

But not in a fighting stance.

Bucky stepped past him while Tony took in the scene, and boldly walked up to the Soldier offering him a hand to shake. "I'd say welcome and offer you a drink," he told the guy, "but with that mask you're wearing I guess a drink wouldn't be that easy to take."

Bucky got a hesitant nod from the Soldier and Tony almost wanted to laugh at the irony of the way Bucky was doing his best to put his tortured self at ease. And seemed to be succeeding. 

"C'mon," Bucky invited, "sit down and take a load off. Tell us what brings you here."

Tony decided it was high time he backed Bucky up. "He might not want a drink, Bucky, but I do. You want anything?"

"A whisky sour, if you're offering," Bucky answered easily, and then turned back to their uninvited guest, seemingly unworried.

Tony mixed the requested drink then poured himself a finger of his favoured Glen Garioch and brought Bucky his whisky sour. He settled on the sofa next to his boyfriend (it was still a bit of a surprise to him that they seemed to fit together so effortlessly) and turned to the Soldier.

A silence fell and stretched for a few seconds before the Soldier spoke. "Why aren't you afraid?"

His voice was harsh, hoarse and tired, and his tone puzzled. 

Bucky raised an eyebrow at him. "You're here out in the open and willing, no _wanting_ , to talk to us. That's not nearly the same as if you'd shown up looking for a fight. Why would we be scared?"

While the Soldier mulled that over, apparently accepting the logic, Tony watched him. They guy's body language was so very different from the few fragments of footage that had gotten onto the news or SHIELD's servers. The man who'd fought Steve in DC had been implacable. He'd held his shoulders straight and his head high, and projected his willingness to kill or blow up anything in his path. This man felt... hesitant wasn't the word, but it was clear he wasn't here to fight. 

"Anyone that knows who I am is scared of me," the Soldier answered. 

"That sounds like a lonely kinda life," Bucky mused. "But you came here to talk to us about something else, didn't you?"

"I did."

Tony waited him out a couple of seconds, then asked, "What did you want to talk about?"

"This." The Soldier slowly reached up and into a pocket of his jacket, and what he pulled out left Tony questioning his sanity. That was a copy of the tabloid headline from the day he and Bucky had gotten together. 

Bucky huffed, amused. "That's old news. Some gossip rag printed that the morning after Tony and I went out for dinner for the first time."

"It... made me remember." The Soldier said quietly, making Bucky give him a sharp look and Tony stare.

"And you, what, want to spend some time around us so you remember more?" Tony speculated.

"Yes." The Soldier looked relieved, and Tony had to assume it was because he'd guessed what the guy wanted. 

Bucky was still giving the Soldier that narrow eyed stare, though. "What do you mean 'it made you remember'?"

"I... when I was in Washington DC, all I knew was my mission." The Soldier answered and Tony had to suppress a shudder. "There was a man on the helicarrier. I knew him but did not know who he was. But he knew me. Knew a name I'd had burned out of me. When I saw that photo..." he gestured to the tabloid, "it brought a few more memories out into the open. Talking like this, it's bringing a little more back."

Tony knew Bucky wasn't going to react at all well to figuring out who the Winter Soldier was, but keeping that secret was not an option. Not considering the fact that the Soldier seemed to want to move in and be around them in some weird kind of attempt at memory retrieval. 

"If you're going to stay," Tony said slowly, and suddenly had the Soldier's full attention, "I'd need to know on what terms. There are a number of house rules that are enforced because the Avengers show up here from time to time, and tend to do it unexpectedly. And then there's the little issue of the way HYDRA's been trying to recapture you."

The Soldier hesitated. "The men with my activation codes have been dealt with," he told Tony, visibly picking his words with care. "Those who continue to pursue me do so with the intent to kill, not capture. If I were to stay, minimal contact with the Avengers would be preferable."

Bucky raised an eyebrow. "And the fact that they're trying to kill you makes things better?"

"No, but it makes anticipating their moves easier," the Soldier countered.

Tony held up the hand he held his drink in. "If you expect to stay here and avoid Steve, you're going to make all our lives a living hell," he pointed out the obvious flaw in the Soldier's plan. "Steve will sniff out the fact that we're hiding something about ten seconds after he walks into the building, and then he'll keep digging until he finds out what it is."

That barely made the Soldier pause, as though he'd expected an objection of the sort. "Then I will leave the Tower while he is here."

"That's only a short term solution," Tony told him. "That kind of thing will make him just as suspicious, even if it takes a little longer. But I guess that'll do for now."

"Good. Your other rules?" The Soldier asked.

Tony considered him for a moment before he spoke. "Fairly standard. There's no way I'd ever convince the people around me to go totally unarmed, but it's generally recommended that you carry the minimum needed and keep a stash in an easily accessible location. If that's acceptable, I can have FRIDAY assign you a locker."

The Soldier nodded. "What else?"

Caught a little off guard by the Soldier's easy acquiescence, Tony stumbled. "Uh. Right. Second rule is that my workshop is off limits without my express permission or an emergency that justifies forced entry. If anyone determines that forced entry unjustified, there will be consequences and you will not like them."

The Soldier made an almost amused sound but nodded.

Tony took a steadying breath. This would likely be the hardest sell. "The last rule we have is more of a strong recommendation. To keep misunderstandings to a minimum, no one wears disguises or masks unless in direct preparation for a mission. My CEO suggested it and it works. You don't need to hide, here, and anyone who does stands out. The team -- and our backup -- tends to assume anyone wearing a mask or a disguise is an intruder who doesn't belong."

True to his expectations, that made the Soldier hesitate. But when he replied, Tony realised it wasn't on account of the rule itself.

"How will _he_ take it?" The Soldier asked, pointing at Bucky with his eyes.

Tony had to shrug. "I have no idea," he answered honestly and winced. 

The Soldier gave him a surprised look. "He doesn't know?"

Bucky grumbled something under his breath. " _What_ don't I know?"

The Soldier reached for the clasp on his mask and Tony hurried to say, "Bucky, you may want to brace yourself."

"Holy shit," Bucky mumbled and stared at the Soldier's revealed face. 

The guy looked a bit better than he had in DC, Tony noted, though he was definitely underfed and underslept.

Bucky slowly got to his feet and crossed the room, looking like he didn't want to believe his eyes. "Who _are_ you?"

The Soldier tried to muster up a smile, and missed. "A ghost. I'm trying to recover the person I used to be. He was a lot like you, I think."

Bucky stared at the Soldier, then turned on Tony and swore at him creatively. "You couldn't have warned me?"

"I wasn't expecting him to come here," Tony pointed out. "If anything, I thought he'd go looking for the Cap. Not us. And when he did show up there wasn't really time?"

Bucky swore at him some more, and Tony let him.

When Bucky ran out of breath, he turned to the Soldier. "We've got some catching up to do, Pal," he said, his tone a bit dark and bordering on angry but tightly controlled. "But not right now. And I think we better call Agent Carter in on this one. We'll need her to keep Steve in line."

Peggy, who'd taken off to go visit Steve at the Avengers Compound yesterday, wouldn't be back in the City for the next couple of days.

Tony eyed the Soldier. Had he somehow planned this so that only Tony and Bucky would be in the tower?

It wasn't impossible, but seemed too difficult even for a man of his caliber. 

"We'll have to wait for her to come back," Tony put in. "If we call her here, it will draw attention."

He paused for a beat then turned to the Soldier. "We need a name for you that isn't Soldier. Got a preference?"

The Soldier shrugged. "It would be confusing to use the same name," he said carefully. "Call me James."

"That'll work," Tony said, accepting the suggestion. "FRIDAY, he'll need one of the guest suites."

"Already on it, Boss." The AI responded promptly. "The guest suite on floor 78 is available."

Interestingly, James didn't so much as blink when FRIDAY spoke. As though they were already well acquainted. 

Tony filed that thought away for later. Probably much later. "The one on Thor's floor, huh? Alright. You need anything else, James?"

James gave him a long almost thoughtful look. "I don't know."

Bucky huffed at him. "Something tells me we're gonna hear you say that a lot."

The statement, mild jab that it was, got him a shrug. "Is that a problem?"

Deciding to get them moving, Tony stood and offered Bucky a hand. "Come on, let's get him settled in. Oh, and that reminds me. You'll have the run of the floor your suite is on and the common floor and whatever amenities you need. Anything else, ask FRIDAY. If it requires my authorisation she'll ask me directly. You want access to anyone else's floor, ask them. And no terrorising my employees. It's bad press."

The last statement got a hint of a smile out of James. "If I don't want to be seen, no one will see me."

That made Bucky roll his eyes, but he said nothing.

A slightly awkward silence fell as they got in the elevator for the short trip down to Thor's floor, and then Tony took the opportunity to open the guest suite door and turn James loose. "Bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, living room," he listed off, pointing out each in the process. "If you'd rather get takeout than cook, just ask FRIDAY and she'll get you what you need. Same goes for groceries. Luckily for you, I have some experience with the caloric requirements of super soldiers."

With that, Tony turned to leave again. 

James stopped him with two quiet words. "Thank you."

Without turning back to face him, Tony answered. "You want to thank me, don't get me caught in the middle of whatever's going on between you and the Cap. We're not on the best terms right now."

The next twelve hours passed uneventfully. It was as though James had never shown up.

At least until Bucky prodded him out of bed and into the common floor kitchen which they'd gotten into the habit of using when they had their breakfast, because of Peggy's presence. They hadn't counted on finding James there, looking like he hadn't slept a wink.

Tony eyed him warily, suddenly more awake than he'd have been post-coffee.

James didn't react to his caution. Or speak, for that matter. He only watched them, his hands tightening ever so slightly around his empty mug. 

Bucky hesitated for a second, then shrugged off his surprise and started going through his usual breakfast routine. Coffee, eggs, potatoes, and then whatever happened to catch his fancy. Sometimes bacon, sometimes not.

Tony stepped up next to him and helped himself to some of the coffee once it was done brewing, pouring Bucky a mug as well and offering it to him. The gesture got him a smile, as it always did, albeit a slightly more strained one than usual. 

It took Tony a minute to realize that Bucky had decided to cook five servings rather than their usual three. 

That knowledge left Tony feeling weirdly conflicted. On the one hand, it was only polite to offer James some food if they were cooking anyway. On the other... the idea of having a meal with the Winter Soldier left him feeling very off balance. 

"You sleep at all?" Bucky tossed over his shoulder, surprising both Tony and James. 

"Couldn't." James answered shortly. 

And yep, that figured. "Something wrong?" Tony asked him. If he was going to put the guy up, he sure as hell didn't want him ending up so sleep deprived that he snapped. 

"New place. That takes adjustment." James replied with a shrug.

That... okay, that made sense. To someone with James' skills and training that would be important. It wouldn't have surprised Tony to find out that James had stayed awake just to get a handle on how the Tower felt and sounded at night.

Making a snap decision, he picked up the carafe of coffee, still half full, and walked over to top off James' mug. "You'll want some more of this, then."

James accepted the offering, letting Tony fll the mug, then said, "Doesn't affect me."

Right. That damned knock off serum of his had most of the same effects that Steve's did. "Beside the point. It'll still help."

That didn't get him an argument, thankfully. James simply took a sip of it and that seemed to be the end of the conversation as far as he was concerned.

Bucky picked that moment, as though he'd been waiting for them to finish, to start plating up the food and setting it out. He placed a heaping serving in front of James, getting a surprised and confused look in return, as though James hadn't expected kindness or politeness, and raised an eyebrow at him. "It's food. You eat it."

James stared at him for another long moment, then nodded.

The next plate landed at Tony's usual seat and Bucky turned away again to grab for flatware.

Their meal passed more or less in silence, and then James seemed to vanish like mist in the sunlight. One moment he was there, watching him and Bucky, and the next they were alone in the kitchen.

"Well, that was weird," Tony commented.

"If what you told me about him is true," Bucky retorted, "that was already a big step for him."

Tony thought back to what he'd told Bucky after their encounter with the Soldier yesterday and had to admit that was very likely true. It had taken him the better part of an hour just to go over the less horrifying of the relevant parts of the story he'd pieced together out of the data Cap had dumped on the internet last May. Even that had left Bucky looking like he wanted to pass out or throw up, or maybe both. In the end, he'd puked despite his best efforts not to, then spent almost half an hour clinging to Tony in search of comfort.

"You think being here will help him?" He asked Bucky as he pushed the last bite of egg around his plate.

"It's way too early to tell, but maybe. If he really did start to remember when he saw that photo, there's a good chance it'll work, I think." Bucky replied and eyed the door James had vanished through. "Guess we'll see."

As he had the previous day, James left them to their own devices for the remainder of the morning and afternoon, only reappearing when they emerged to order and eat dinner. 

"When is the team likely to come here?" He asked them, apropos of nothing, and Tony exchanged a look with Bucky.

"It tends to be unpredictable," Tony reiterated, though he was sure James had heard, understood, and recalled that part of the informal briefing they'd given him when he'd shown up. "The team as a whole is still on my shit list after what they pulled in Sokovia, and they know it. And they all dislike me anyway, so they're here as a group maybe once every five to six weeks. The Cap is here a bit more often, since his girlfriend officially has her residence in the Tower."

James nodded, then paused, looking a bit apprehensive. "Girlfriend?"

Bucky made an amused sound that wasn't quite a chuckle. "Remember Peggy?"

James nodded again, slowly. "Flashes here and there. But she's in a care facility in DC."

"Yes and no," Tony said, and watched confusion tug at James' features. The man seemed to talk with his eyes as much as possible. "The same bizarre series of events that landed Bucky here also hauled Peggy forward into the now, and she pretty much immediately dragged the Captain into his bedroom by his ear."

It had been a distinct shock to him to find out that Peggy was, in fact still at her home, and just as he'd remembered her. But her younger self was also very much a presence in his life. Once he'd found that out, he'd surmised that James must also still be around somewhere, but he'd never thought to consider that James might seek out his younger self.

Sure, it was logical in retrospect. But the point stood.

James looked a bit apprehensive at that. "And will I be required to work with her?"

"She's another direct link to who you were," Bucky pointed out. "Just like I am. And she'd be a lot less excitable about it than Steve."

"If anything, she'll kick his ass if he tries to force you into a conversation or something," Tony agreed. Peggy had been gleefully kicking ass and taking names for a living when she'd been yanked into the future by him on accident, and hadn't hesitated to continue doing just that, albeit with a narrower focus.

Tony intended to offer her a consulting position with authority over SI's security branch and turn her loose on the world. He had no doubt she'd have the entire department in line and efficiently working within a month. 

And perhaps, he decided, he'd do something similar for James, if everything worked out. That would be a sight worth seeing. Peggy and James would make a hell of a team, badass motherfuckers that they both were.

"Alright," James agreed, breaking Tony out of his thoughts.

"Then we'll set up a meeting for you two once she's back and we've had a chance to explain the situation to her," Tony offered. "You tell us when you're ready for it."

That sent what looked like relief through James' eyes, and he settled a little deeper into the end of the sofa he'd staked out.

"Hey Tony?" Bucky changed the subject, "What'd ya order us, anyway?"

"Well, you didn't like the sushi that much, which, I'm still personally offended by that," Tony replied, grinning when Bucky gave him a dirty look at the reminder, "so I decided we'd try something else that doesn't involve fish."

"So what is it?" Bucky asked him again, looking like he was contemplating tackling him to the floor to tickle the information out of him.

Tony wasn't sure how their guest would react to that kind of squabble, playful though it might be, so he gave up his evasive tactics and gave Bucky what he wanted. "I thought it was high time I introduced you to the delights of Turkish cuisine. Their main courses are good, but the desserts are to die for."

When Peggy got back to the Tower a few hours later, she stumbled on them savouring the last few desserts, and surprised the living daylights out of James, who looked like a deer in headlights for all of three seconds, then bolted.

Peggy stared after him, then gave Tony a stern look. "Just _what_ have you two gotten up to while I was out of town?"

Bucky scrubbed at his face and then ran his hands through his hair. "You'd better hear that from Tony. I'm still not sure I believe it myself.

Tony made a face and gestured to the seat opposite him, which James had just hurriedly vacated. "This might take a while," he said with a sigh, and started in on the briefing he'd given Bucky so recently, getting much the same reaction.

"And since you expected me back in the morning, the poor soul got the shock of his life," she commented when Tony'd wound down.

Making a maybe-yes-maybe-not gesture, Tony told her, "We let him know you were living here and that you'd probably agree to help him with his attempts to get himself back. So I don't think you being here will send him scurrying for cover. Well, not again, at least. The biggest hurdle will be keeping his presence here from Steve. He doesn't want the Captain to try to talk to him just yet."

Peggy snorted and gave the door a speculative look. "I should hope my presence here doesn't frighten him. The poor tormented soul has nought to fear from me, unless he should threaten anyone living here. And he appears to be behaving himself quite well, considering his circumstances. If he wishes to speak to me about his past, he has only to contact me through his preferred means. And I have no problem at all with kicking Steven out of the Tower, if I must, to get us some privacy."

She paused, then added, "FRIDAY, should he inquire after me, you may play him back that last statement of mine."

"Of course, Ms. Carter," the AI replied with what Tony half thought was glee in her tone. "I'll make sure to do that."


	3. Meeting the Family

Things proceeded in the same kind of rhythm for the next two weeks, though Peggy joined them for breakfast now that she was back for a time, and James gradually relaxed around all three of them.

Tony never did find out whether James had talked to Peggy about anything, but he decided he didn't need to know. It was enough for him that James was recovering a bit.

They'd had a bad couple of days when it had come out that It had been James who'd caused the accident that had killed his parents, that Peggy's suspicion of foul play had been entirely correct, but Tony'd had enough time to get used to James by then that he hadn't needed too long to sort through the mess of rage and grief that had caused. It was HYDRA that was to blame. Not James. James'd had no control over his own actions. No agency.

When Tony'd managed to work through things to the point that he didn't have to leave the room when James entered it, the atmosphere had eased considerably. He'd not realised how tense his reaction to the news had made all three of his friends -- and it was a sign of how weird his life was that they were his friends now -- until that tension had fallen away.

And then Pepper had waltzed into the common room as though she owned it, ignoring his guests for a moment. "Tony, if I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times, when I forward you information about an event you've agreed to attend, that means you'd better attend it." Then she turned to Bucky, Peggy, and James and added, "Sorry for the interruption, but if I don't harangue him, nothing gets done."

It was only then that she did a double take.

"Tony," she said slowly, "I think you had better introduce your guests."

Peggy stood and offered her hand. "I expect none of us truly needs an introduction, judging by your tone of voice," she said dryly, "but for appearance's sake, I am Margaret Carter, formerly of the SSR, that is Sergeant James Barnes, who goes by Bucky among us," Bucky stood and offered his hand in turn, bringing Pepper's hand up when she took it so he could kiss her knuckles like the suave asshole he was, "and that," Peggy finished, "is also James Barnes, albeit a somewhat wearier one."

The attempt at humor got her a twitch of James' lips, and he cautiously waited until Pepper stepped over to him rather than approach her.

Her own bearing going briskly businesslike, Pepper took the two steps over to James, her heels clicking loudly against the floor in the silence that fell, and caught his eyes as she stopped in front of him.

James said nothing, waiting for who knew what -- maybe for lightning to strike him indoors -- and Tony considered intervening.

Pepper gave James a nod, though, and put him out of his metaphorical misery. "I've heard all kinds of rumours about you," she told him quietly, "but I suspect they're all lies."

"I doubt that," James told her, just as quietly.

Pepper didn't bat an eye, but her voice went tart. "As I'm sure you've found out by now, the best lies contain just enough truth to make them believable, and I expect you to tell me what's true and what's not someday."

Caught off guard and very effectively disarmed by her total lack of fear, James replied, "We'll see. First I have to find that out for myself." 

Pepper accepted that, and then went right back to haranguing Tony, getting amused smirks out of Peggy and Bucky. "You," she told him, her expression going stern, "had better be back here in ten minutes, appropriately dressed. Go. Rhodey will be accompanying you to the venue."

Knowing when he was beaten and looking forward to seeing his best friend, Tony went.

He had no doubt that Bucky and Peggy would back Pepper up, and James wasn't likely to be any help. He had no idea what event he was supposed to be attending, but that was pretty much the norm. He'd figure it out once he was there, if he had to. Or Rhodey might agree to fill him in.

Luckily, he hadn't spent any time in the workshop for things other than designing, that afternoon, so he didn't have to do more than change his clothes and throw a bit of product in his hair. Pepper would have mentioned it if the event was black tie, so he simply grabbed for a suit, shirt, and tie more or less at random. [1]

It didn't matter if he matched or not, after all. People expected Tony Stark to be outrageous.

And, Tony smirked to himself, Bucky got a real kick out of seeing him all dressed up. There were even odds that he'd get back in through the door tonight without being shoved against a wall and kissed until he forgot everything else but his boyfriend. Not that he minded that at all.

For that matter, he reflected as he knotted his tie, it was probably for the best that everyone in the common room knew about his and Bucky's relationship. Otherwise, they very probably would have gotten a bit of a shock when he kissed Bucky goodbye.

The few times he'd left the Tower without his boyfriend in the last few weeks, Bucky had made a point of insisting on that little ritual, and Tony didn't dare speculate on the reason for it but the thought that it was because Bucky'd found out what had happened to James lingered.

Shoving those heavy ideas back in their box and putting on his watch, Tony strolled back out of his room and made his way back to the common floor, where Pepper was more or less patiently waiting. As he'd predicted, Bucky insistently claimed a kiss, and then Pepper was herding him back into the elevator without giving him a chance to say a word to Peggy or James, who'd watched, the former bemused and the latter a bit taken aback.

As the doors closed, he heard James ask, "Is that normal?"

Pepper turned to him and gave him a look that spoke volumes.

Tony didn't give an inch. "If these events weren't so boring, maybe you'd have better luck."

"I suppose that's not unreasonable, by your standards," she allowed. "And at least try to stay out of the news, hm?"

"No promises," he told her. "Will that be all, Ms. Potts?"

With a slightly sad smile, she leaned in to tug his tie straighter. "I'm glad you've found someone that makes you happy," she said, ignoring the out he'd offered her. "But if he missteps, I'll make him regret it. Now, don't keep Rhodey waiting. That _will_ be all, Mr. Stark."

The answer sent a pang through him that made him wish one more time that they'd been able to make things work between them, but he knew that was an impossibility beyond even his ability to make real.

The rest of the evening went by in something of a blur, despite all Tony's expectations to the contrary. The event itself had been boring as fuck, but for once Rhodey had indulged his snarky commentary and even made a bit of his own. They'd made it through to the end of whatever it had been -- entirely forgettable, apparently -- and back into the car before Rhodey had started interrogating him.

"I never had a chance to meet that boy of yours," he opened.

Tony smirked at him, deflector shields at maximum. "So? You've never wanted to meet any of my significant others before."

"None but Pepper ever lasted more than a week," Rhodey pointed out, entirely correctly. "This guy's been on your arm for more than a month and a half. Don't tell me you've finally found your match."

That was approximately what Rhodey had said when Tony and Pepper had finally acknowledged the tension between them. "Alright, I won't." 

"Seriously, though. I want to meet this guy. He's gotta be something special, if he's kept your attention for this long."

Oh, Bucky definitely was, but Rhodey had no idea how close his joke had come to the truth.

"That... well, you might regret it." Tony replied, not sure how he felt about the idea of Rhodey and Bucky in the same room, especially not after the greeting he was sure to get. "But if you insist."

"And I'd regret it, why?" Rhodey asked him, raising an eyebrow, and Tony realised his mistake. He'd had to go and make Rhodey curious.

"You'll see." Tony watched as the car pulled back into the Tower's garage.

Rhodey snorted. "Fine, take me to your boyfriend."

As the elevator bore them up toward the common floor, Tony suddenly wanted to wince. Hopefully James would have already made his way down to his floor, or things might get tense. Rhodey was just as quick on the uptake as Pepper, and would hardly miss the resemblance between James -- who'd started shaving off his seemingly permanent five'o'clock shadow again, recently -- and Bucky.

Oh well. Too late to worry about that now.

The elevator opened on a similar scene to the one that Pepper had walked in on, though without the takeout debris, this time.

"Hey, I'm back, and I've brought a friend," Tony announced, grabbing the instant tension and trying to hack it back down to size. "Guys, this is Rhodey. Honeybear, meet the gang."

Peggy took the floor with aplomb, as she had a few hours ago. "Agent Carter," she offered her name and title, apparently immediately reading military in Rhodey's posture. "How is it you know Tony?"

Rhodey made a pained sound. "I met the asshole in college," he told her, taking her hand, and shaking it. "How is it that _you_ know him, Agent?"

"That," Tony put in, "is the part that will make your head hurt, crackerjack."

Bucky shook his head. "Wouldn't be the first time, knowing you," he commented, getting Rhodey's attention.

Rhodey looked back and forth between Bucky and James, and then looked up at the ceiling. "FRIDAY?"

"Yes, Col. Rhodes?" FRIDAY answered. "What can I do for you?"

"I'm getting the feeling that I didn't get the whole story from Pepper," he said, making Peggy stifle a smile. "Tell me that isn't the goddamn Winter Soldier and a guy that looks like he could be his younger twin?"

"I told you you'd regret this," Tony answered in FRIDAY's place. "It is, though he doesn't do that anymore, and the icing on the cake, Rhodey, is that his name's James Barnes."

Rhodey turned to stare at James and Bucky some more, clearly putting together a few pieces of the puzzle, then swore colorfully at Tony. "Your boyfriend's Bucky Barnes?" He hissed, audibly torn between horror and glee.

Bucky smirked and sauntered over to offer his hand in turn. "He is, yes. Pepper mentioned you might be stopping by after the awards ceremony."

Rhodey snorted. "Pepper knows us both a lot better than we'd like, some days."

James stood, eyeing Rhodey a bit uncertainly, but he didn't spook and run the way he might have when he'd first shown up at the Tower. "Did Tony read you in on the situation?" 

Tony shook his head. "Not yet. I thought I'd see what you wanted to say about it."

Granted, he hadn't thought that until just now, but that bit wasn't important.

James gave him a startled look, but continued to stand his ground without faltering much. "I... I don't think that would be a good idea," he replied quietly. "You do it."

James had come a long way since he'd decided to show up here, and Tony knew that was in large part because of the freedom they'd allowed him. Slinging his arm around Rhodey's shoulders, he steered his friend back out of the room. "Come on, cupcake, let's go down to the 'shop," he said, knowing Rhodey would pick up on the unspoken demand, "and I'll fill you in on what you've missed. It's been a wild few weeks."

Bucky cleared his throat meaningfully, and Tony paused. "Actually. You know what, hold that thought for a second."

Changing course, he let Rhodey go, turned to reach out and grab Bucky's hand, and pulled his boyfriend in for a kiss. Bucky made sure it was more than just the quick peck Tony'd planned, though, making sure he had to insistently peel himself free and resist the urge to adjust himself.

"If you're not in your bedroom in half an hour," Bucky told him with an arch look, "I'm starting the fun without you."

Rhodey made a disgusted sound in the back of his throat. "Keep that shit to yourself, man," he complained. "I don't gotta know about that."

Peggy smirked, amused and enjoying Rhodey's reaction. "Barnes is the least subtle man I've had the dubious pleasure of knowing," she commented, "and Stark isn't much better."

Tony laughed. "I don't care if you take shots at me, but stop trying to shame my boyfriend," he warned her, "or I'll have to take steps."

James simply shook his head at their antics and pulled his usual vanishing act.

With a groan, Rhodey turned back toward the elevator and muttered something distinctly impolite under his breath. Tony laughed harder and joined his friend. "Half an hour," he agreed, and offered Bucky a mock salute as the doors shut on the scene.

"You are the worst trouble magnet I have ever had the misfortune to know," Rhodey informed him as they descended toward the workshop.

Tony just shrugged. "You're not wrong, I guess," he confessed, "but it's not on purpose."

With a disbelieving huff, Rhodey threw himself onto the sofa tucked next to the kitchenette that served primarily as a platform for Tony's coffee maker. "So, spill," he demanded. "You promised me details."

Tony shoved his hands through his hair and groaned. "It's not pretty," he told his friend. "Reading about it made me puke. Hearing about it -- after I cleaned the story up -- made Bucky puke."

"Worse than Afghanistan?" Rhodey asked warily, and Tony nodded.

"By probably a factor of a hundred," Tony confirmed, then gave Rhodey the bare bones. 

In the end, Rhodey didn't puke, but Tony could tell it was a near run thing. He looked pretty green and very upset, his anger and outrage burning in his eyes.

"Tony," he said after a couple of silent minutes, "I wish I didn't believe you that that was the cleaned up version of the story."

"He was held by HYDRA for the better part of seventy years," Tony pointed out. "That would've been a foolproof recipe for trauma even if he hadn't lost his arm."

"And that's what makes it all the more amazing that he came looking for Barnes and you in the first place, and that he seems to be recovering from all that bullshit." Rhodey said on a sigh and pinched at the bridge of his nose. 

Putting a hand on Rhodey's shoulder, Tony stood and started up the coffee machine. He made and poured a mug of caffeine in silence, handing it to his friend and waiting until Rhodey wrapped his hands around the offering.

Rhodey took a sip and let it warm him before he spoke again. "What're you three planning to do about him?" He asked eventually. 

"Don't tell me you think we can force the Winter Soldier to do anything he doesn't want to do," he replied drily. "For now, we're in a holding pattern, and James is improving. At some point, I expect Peggy will convince him to let Cap come talk to him. That ought to be the moment of truth."

Rhodey snorted. "With the Cap's bull-in-a-china-shop approach?"

"James isn't much better, when it comes to tactics," Tony pointed out. "It might take an emotional sledgehammer to the face to get him out of whatever entrenched habits he's got."

Shaking his head, Rhodey conceded that point. "I saw some of the footage from DC," he admitted. "The man's about as subtle as a heavy tank."

"Boss," FRIDAY butted in, "you have less than five minutes left of your agreed half hour."

"Right," Tony acknowledged that. "Rhodey, we'll pick this up later if you want to hang around. I have a booty call to attend to."

Making a face at him, Rhodey stood and knocked back the rest of his coffee. "Yeah, yeah, whatever," he said and rolled his eyes, "I see where I rank. Go nail your boyfriend. And, no, I do not want details."

Laughing at him, Tony led the way out of the shop and shot back, "How's Danvers?"

"Happy not to be involved in this clusterfuck," Rhodey told him, lying through his teeth as the elevator bore them back up to the common floor.

"Bring her with you next time you come visit," Tony demanded, knowing Carol would be far more likely to accept that invitation than Rhodey. "It's been a while."

"Ooooh no. I don't think so." Rhodey, despite being a decorated former flyboy, an Air Force Colonel, and War Machine, preferred not to get involved in what he deemed clusterfucks, despite his tendency to be an adrenaline junkie. Carol, on the other hand, seemed to glory in them. They were a well matched pair and Tony thought she was perfect for his friend.

Laughing at him, Tony resolved to send Carol a text or something in the morning. "Fine I'll ask her, then. When are you two finally going to get off your asses and announce your engagement?"

"Tony, I keep telling you, you are not going to badger it out of me," he grumbled and stomped out of the car when the doors finally opened with perfect timing for his exit.

Tony suspected FRIDAY had planned that for him but didn't mind. "Stick around, sour patch," he called after Rhodey, getting his friend to flip him off as he walked away. "We can catch up some more in the morning."

FRIDAY closed the elevator doors again as Rhodey disappeared into a guest suite and sent him up to the penthouse and Bucky.

They spent a very pleasant couple of hours in the shower and against the wall, before they halfassedly cleaned up and gave in to sleep. 

As had become the norm for them, they woke tangled together with the blankets wrapped around their shins and the pillows on the floor.

Bucky, it hadn't taken Tony long to discover, put out body heat like no one else he'd ever met. It was like sleeping with a space heater, not that he minded overly. He tended to run cold, thanks to his circulation issues. 

A few seconds after Tony's eyes opened, Bucky stretched and asked, without opening his own eyes, "How's Rhodes?"

"He reacted about the same way you did," Tony answered, rubbing at his face. "Hopefully he's feeling better now. I'm not sure I distracted him enough before he stumbled into a guest suite." And, that reminded him. "But I have a plan."

Bucky eyed him a little suspiciously. "A plan? You gonna share?"

Rolling until he could swipe his phone off his nightstand, Tony didn't answer until he'd sent Carol a text. _Come by the Tower when you can. My honeybear needs you._

"Tony?" Bucky prompted him again.

"I'm calling in reinforcements," he told his boyfriend. "You'll see when they get here."

 _WTF did you do Stark?_ Carol answered him. 

Bucky shook his head and threw an arm over his face as Tony gave her the least informative explanation he could get away with. _Told him some top secret horror stories. The usual._

_OMW and you'd better explain or I'll string you up by your balls._

Tony couldn't help the chuckle that pulled out of him, and Bucky deftly snatched the phone away from him to read the texts. Tony didn't bother fighting for it.

He'd learned better than to keep that kind of secret from his boyfriend. If Bucky didn't worm it out of him, James would, and then Bucky would kick him out of bed.

After a minute Bucky asked, "Who's Carol?"

"Rhodey's girlfriend," Tony said with a grin. "She's great, you'll like her, I think. But she might try to kick my ass when she gets here unless I talk really fast or Rhodey does."

Bucky snorted and got to his feet to start getting dressed for the day. "I like her already. James might not react too well if she tries to take a bite out of ya though."

That... wasn't an inaccurate assessment. Tony winced and got to his feet to dress, too. "Damn it. That could be a problem," he muttered. 

"You're welcome," Bucky joked, well aware that he'd been the bearer of bad news in saying that.

"I'll thank you appropriately after we keep our friends from murdering each other in our defense," Tony grumbled back, yanking on his jeans and the first T-shirt he got his hands on. "Come on, let's find James and maybe we can keep him from getting too excited."

"Good luck with that," Bucky told him. "You know how he gets when he thinks someone is threatening his friends."

"Still the best shot we have. Carol will be coming in the door guns blazing. Well, okay, not literally, but the metaphor holds."

Bucky winced. "Okay, That won't end well."

Tony grinned and made for the bedroom door. "Probably. But it'll get Rhodey thinking about something that has nothing to do with James' trauma and maybe finally get him to spill about the wedding date I'm sure he's had picked out for about six months."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [1] The suit Tony's wearing is basically [this one](https://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large/1-robert-downey-jr-at-arrivals-everett.jpg). For fun and profit, and because it amuses me too damned much to pass up.


End file.
